A special counsel team investigating former first lady Kim Keon-hee denied deliberately sitting on allegations that ruling party-affiliated politicians received money and gifts from the Unification Church.

At a press briefing on Thursday, the team said Yun Young-ho, the church's second-in-command, had named five politicians affiliated with both the ruling and main opposition parties, and that criticisms of their investigation as politically biased did not hold water.

The team said there was internal consensus that allegations concerning ruling Democratic Party(DP) politicians were not subject to the Act on the Appointment of an Independent Prosecutor​

The team denied that it had transferred Yun's claims to the police only after related allegations emerged, claiming it had prepared a report based on Yun's testimony in late August and that a review of the transfer had been completed.

The team said it had decided to transfer the case after wrapping up its investigation into the former first lady, but that it could no longer delay doing so now that media reports had made the matter public.